An Instagram Trade for Some 2021 Heritage Minors

Many times I have stated that I hate trading.  It usually is a pain, but when a guy on Instagram offered me a one for one trade for some 2021 Heritage Minors extras that I had, I went ahead and swung the deal.

I'm not building a signed set by any means, but I do like the 1972 Topps design, and it was easy to tell the guy which guys I had missed in order to quickly complete the deal.

I had missed Terrin Vavra in January at the Orioles Caravan; he was paired with Adley Rutschman, and I was unable to get in on that signing.  I was glad to finally get a Vavra 2021 Heritage Minors signed.

I missed Cade Cavalli and Brice Turang on the cards because they were already beyond the Carolina League when the set came out.  So, those two were easy picks.

I'm glad I got the trade done easily.  I'm ok with them in the future if they're as easy as this one was.

A Couple Trades With Drake

I've been talking with a guy named Drake (awesome name, by the way) lately, and we got a couple trades completed in the last few months.  I have been sending him some extra IP autos that I have gotten over the years, and in turn, he has done the same.  Except, of course, for the above 2004 Just Minors auto of Joey Votto.  I think Votto is a great player, and I was glad to add this early-career auto to my collection.

I also got some prospect autos of Alex Kiriloff, Alec Bohm, Thomas Beal and Hunter Renfroe.  All of the cards are great, and I've really enjoyed my chats with Drake.  We agree on a lot of things, so that has been nice.

Thanks for the deal, Drake!

Instagram Trade With Brandon - Several Autos

My friend Brandon messaged me recently to let me know that he was getting out of the hobby and that he had several signed Braves cards from the 1987 Topps set.  He sent me over  alist of who he had, and the only one I needed was Braves legend, Dale Murphy.  I actually had a conversation with Murphy at the National a couple years ago. but of course I don't just walk around with a stash of 87s in my pocket, so I wasn't able to get one signed.  I'm sure Brandon had met him a few times.  Murph was really nice, and I'm glad Brandon was willing to part with it for the stack of Christian Pache cards that I sent him.

I wasn't expecting Brandon to send anything extre in the trade, but he included a bunch of other autos for my album.  I needed all of them, and a couple were pretty unique cards.

I had gotten Barbaro Garbey at a Danville Braves game a while back, and was happy to see this one was a Topps Buyback 86 Topps.  So, it is pretty cool, and was something I definitely didn't have.  The John Mosts is a Topps Tiffany (super glossy version of the original set).

I also liked the 1988 Donruss The Rookies card of Damon Berryhill.  I didn't have any Pedro Florimon cards, either, and these two look great.

Thanks for the deal, Brandon.  I know you'll be back in the hobby sometime in the future.

An Instagram Trade With Al

Believe it or not, I actually hate trading.  Usually, it is a long, drawn out process where you have to haggle with folks and/or meet their demands to pull something decent off.  I prefer the arrangements I have with friend such as Max or Gerard where we just send each other stuff we think the other would like, and in the end, things kind of wash out.

That's not to be said,though, that I won't pull off a trade here and there.  Recently, a guy on Instagram named Al approached me about trading our extra prospect autos from IP graphing.  I keep a box of extra autos just for this reason, and with the cards that I had built up, I made a pretty sweet deal.

Al was super generous with his cards, and I didn't know he would be at the start.  I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the deal until he sent me some photos of cards he was making available.  The 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Gavin Lux is the card that got my attention, and ultimately what persuaded me to strike a deal.

I had a couple unsigned versions of the card, but I had no way of seeing Lux in person in order to get one signed.  I know he is a really well thought of prospect, so I was hoping I would have a chance to get him at some point.

Al and I basically did a card-for-card trade, but the autograph he was most focused on was Nick Madrigal.  I had one left, and was able to include it in the deal.  I think including that card set the wheels in motion on Al's end, and I think the both of us are very excited about each person's returns.  I was able to get: Lux, Jeff Brigham, Dilson Herrera, Lewis Brinson, Tyler Alexander, Helmis Rodriguez, Daniel Robertson, Chris Ellis, Ryan McMahon, Austin Beck...

 Justus Sheffield, AJ Reed, Forrest Wall, Rosell Herrera, Kyle Freeland, Alex Verdugo, Jamie Westbrook, Cody Reed, Sam Selman...

Jairo!, Tyler Danish, Andrew Sopko x 3, and Pat Neshek.  Al also included autos of Josh Morgan and Collin Wiles, but I already had them, so those will either be included in a future trade with someone else, or they'll make it into a gift or something.

I was very happy with my deal with Al.  He and I agreed to do some 50/50s together, if the season can ever get going.

50/50s From Reds Caravan

It's Fan Fest and Caravan season and a few of my Instagram trading buddies offered to take some 50/50s for me.

A guy named Andrew that I've done 50/50s with in the past hooked me up by taking a bunch of my cards to Reds Caravan (a different one that what my buddy Kaleb went to).

Andrew got me a huge assortment of cards signed, including several that he had leftover from what I sent last year. I'm pretty much out of David Bell and Tom Hume cards now, which is good because it makes room for new cards in my boxes.

I really appreciate Andrew taking the time to reach out and help me with getting this stuff signed. I'm hoping he and I can do some more 50/50s this summer.

Christmas Gift From Mallory - 2019 Leaf Perfect Game Showcase Box

Normally, when I bust a box and the break makes its way to the blog, I show the numerous hits and provide commentary on what I think.  Well, this break was special for several reasons.  I specifically sent my wife, Mallory, a link for Blowout Cards for a box of 2019 Leaf Perfect Game Showcase.  The reason was simple, pull one card that I was looking for.  The specific player was Joe Reid.  Here's why:

A long time ago, I started my Instagram account because an online friend of mine said I would probably enjoy posting pictures and stuff.  I started my account back in April 2013, and my first posted photo was of my cat, Jericho.  I would post a few random pics here and there, and not really do much else with it.

I started posting random baseball cards in my collection, beginning with my Hall of Fame baseball collection.  I started getting more and more followers and finally around 2014, someone messaged me about making a trade for an extra Manny Machado baseball that I had.  I won't go into full details on it, but the trade didn't work out.  However, it kind of did.

Issues surrounding the trade were later resolved, and a friendship blossomed from it.  As the trade was initially discussed, the kid and I would have Kik conversations, and talk about getting autographs, what cool cards had we picked up, and when the trade didn't work out, I was upset.  I felt like I had made a card buddy.

About a year later, the same kid messaged me out of the blue and asked for my address.  A week or so later, I got a package in the mail with a nice note and an assortment of nice Orioles cards.  Since then, the kid and I have chatted back and forth when time allowed.  I have sat here the last 6 years and watched the two-sport (baseball and football) player grown into a heck of a baseball player.  He has also grown into a heck of a man.  That little hiccup back in 2014 is a faded memory now, and I can say that I am so very super proud to say that I "knew Joe when..."

The whole reason I wanted the box of 2019 Leaf Perfect Game Showcase was so that I could pull a card of one, Joe Reid.  I didn't open the box live on Instagram like I normally like to do.  I only opened it with my wife by my side.  I wanted the moment I pulled Joe's card to be mine.  I pulled the card.

Instantly, I sent Joe a direct message on Instagram and showed him the card.  Joe was as excited as I was.

Joe will probably read this, and I don't want to embarrass him too much, but I do want to say that the moral of the story is that I never gave up on Joe.  He never gave up on me, either.  We realized that there was a friendship there built over the love of baseball, and we used it to form a connection.  My hope is that Joe continues on his path, and maybe someday soon, I can catch one of his games in person.  I would love to go to a game with my autograph book and graph someone I "knew back when...".  That would be really cool.

Thanks for the Christmas gift, Mal.  You saw how excited I was when I pulled the card.

Instagram Trade With Drake

I completed a trade on Instagram with a kid named Drake a few months back.  I really didn't think I would pull the trade off when we first met, because he would comment on my posts about wanting autos that weren't available, culminating with a direct message complaining as such.  I figured that would be the end of the interaction, but a few days later, I got an apology, and we got to talking.

We ended up working out a trade, and carrying on a conversation about graphing the minors, the propsed changes to the system itself, and just life stuff in general.  I was really glad that I didn't overreact to his initial message, and gave the guy another chance.

I keep a box of extra autos that I accumulate throughout the season, and use that as "currency" in proposing trades for cards that I need.  I have also had to use some to entice some folks to take a card for me to get signed.  Graphing can be a tough business sometimes.

Still, though, I end up with autos that some folks need, and I am happy to make some trades to get some new stuff into my albums.  Once the cards make it into the albums, they don't get removed (which probably was the source of Drake's frustration).

We ended up going through the box via video messages on Instagram, and settled on a 1 for 1 trade (meaning, for every card I sent, he would send one).  I was happy with the stuff I was able to get.

Anyway, we are friends now, and we plan on doing some 50/50s and consignments for the upcoming season, so I feel like we will continue in a positive direction.

Some Autos From Instagram

I got a message in my Instagram DM from a kid in Indiana who was looking for a 2018 Bowman Bryan Mata auto.  I had an extra one from graphing, so I offered it to him.

He wanted to trade for the card, so I took these two cards that he offered in return.

I really love this 2017 Stadium Club Shawn O'Malley.  I wanted to be able to add something like this to my autograph album, and now I can.

He also threw in this 2018 Bowman Jawuan Harris auto.  This is a player who I probably wouldn't have been able to get on a card, since I don't see any of San Diego's minor league teams.

Lyon Richardson Consignment Autos From Parker

A kid named Parker saw me bust 2019 Bowman on my Instagram livestream and offered to get my Lyon Richardson cards signed.  I sent him the base card, which was the only one I had at the time, then I followed up with this Bowman Mojo refractor that I found later on in a Target Mega box.

The autos came out great, but since I only had one Richardson at a time, Parker agreed to take them as a consignment instead of a 50/50.  So, I sent him a couple signed 2018 Heritage Minors autos in exchange for him getting me these two cards.

A 50/50 would have meant that I send Parker 2 Richardsons, and he gets them signed, keeps one and sends the other back to me... you split 50/50.

A consignment works by either trading something or paying straight up for an auto.

Sn Instagram Trade For The 2010 Bowman USA Set

A kid on Instagram posted that he had this 2010 Bowman USA cad signed by Zach Green, and I needed it for my set that I have been halfheartedly working on over the years.  I say halfheartedly, because getting Alex Bregman or Albert Almora is going to be super tough.

I traded some IP autos I had for this card, and got some extras in return.

The extras were decent.  He added the Chrome version of the Green card and then some others that he had.

Instagram Trade for the 87 Set

I've been needing Dan Pasqua for my 87 set for some time now, so I was glad when a kid on Instagram wanted to trade this card he got signed at Sox Fest for some White Sox base cards.  I was able to take some Dash cards that I couldn't use anymore and send them to a kid, who could help me with my 87 set.

Pasqua (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1985 to 1994 for the Yankees and White Sox.  He had 638 hits, 117 home runs and a .244 batting average.

I'm glad I got a deal done and glad he was able to get some Sox cards he could get signed.

Free Signed 87s From Billy

I got a DM on Instagram not too long ago from a guy named Billy who I had traded with a few times.  He had gone on my needs list of signed 87 Topps and offered up two of the cards he had free of charge.  That knocked off two more cards, the above Rick Anderson, and the below Greg Gross.

I had both of these guys out on TTM, but the cards had not come back yet.  It was really nice of Billy to hook me up.

Thanks so much, Billy!

Instagram Deal With Rocco

My good friend, Anthony received his Christmas gift recently, and made a nice post on Instagram about it.  Due to the post and his tagging me, a guy named Rocco began following me.  He saw some of the IP autos I had gotten this season, and sent me a DM asking if I would trade.  When it turned out that he had access to his Dad's incomplete signed 1987 Topps set, we went from discussing an actual trade to my buying some of his dad's autos.  I ended up with three tough deceased guys from the set, Chris Brown, Jose Uribe and Dwight Lowry.  I checked each auto with certified ones on Ebay and they all seem to check out, which is great.  Rocco has a ton more signed 87s, so I feel like we will be making a bunch more trades and sales.

Chris Brown (b. 1961 - d. 2006) played in the majors from 1984 to 1989 for the Giants, Padres and Tigers.  He had 410 hits, 38 home runs and a .269 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1986.

After his retirement from baseball, Brown worked in Iraq as an 18-wheel driver for Halliburton.  He took fire on several occasions, including a time when his convoy was attacked resulting in the deaths of six Halliburton drivers and one soldier.  Another driver had been kidnapped and released.  He was able to return home safely from Iraq, only to die as a result of burns suffered during a fire at a vacant house that he owned.  He was 45.

Jose Uribe (b. 1959 - d. 2006) played in the majors from 1984 to 1993 for the Cardinals, Giants and Astros.  He had 738 hits, 19 home runs and a .241 battting average.  He was killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic at the age of 47.

Dwight Lowry (b. 1957 - d. 1997) played in the majors in 1984 and 1986 to 1988 for the Tigers and Twins.  He had 62 hits, 5 home runs and a .273 batting average.  Lowry was born in Lumberton, NC, and attended UNC.  Following his playing career, he managed in the Tigers minor league system.  He suffered a heart attack at his home in Jamestown, NY.  He had been managing the Jamestown Jammers and died within an hour after a victory.  He was 39.

Thanks so much for the deal, Rocco.  These are definitely some tough cards to cross off for my set, but you helped me out tremendously.

A Trade With Stefan

I did my first Instagram trade in a while with a kid that I hadn't talked to in some time, my friend, Stefan.  He and I used to talk all the time, then the both of us got busy, and sort of drifted apart.  He was looking to trade for some 2017 Topps HM, and I had three cards that he needed.

In return, Sefan sent me the two 1987 Topps that he had that I needed from my list.  I was lucky that he had these, otherwise, I wouldn't have had any idea what to trade for.

Thanks for the deal, Stefan!

Christmas Care Package From Daytons Cards

I just met Dayton over at Daytons Cards on Instagram a few months ago.  I found him some coaches for the minor league teams that he sees, and figured that would be all we interacted until the start of the season.  Dayton surprised me, though, with a Christmas care package that had a few autos in it, and the above 2013 Topps gold parallel of Wei-Yin Chen.  It has been a while since a Chen card appeared on the blog.

I liked the autos that Dayton sent along.  Even though I already had Rich Bordi in my album, I will put this one in there as well, since he gifted it to me.

I thought I already had the 2013 Miguel Gonzalez, but I guess I didn't, which was a nice surprise.  I also did a double take, because I thought the 2011 was Miguel, as well, but it was horrible Orioles relieved, Mike Gonzalez.  I shudder at the memories of him closing games.  Still, I needed the card, and I am happy to have it, no matter how bad Mike Gonzalez was.

Thank you so much for the care package, Dayton!

Instagram Trade With Colin

This is the last thing I had scanned before I start on my Christmas gifts that I got recently.  This was a trade I did a while ago with a kid named Colin from Instagram.  I sent him a bunch of cards for his PC in exchange for this Manny Machado Target Red RC.  I had one in my collection that I had sold, and I held onto this one.  I can't remember who Colin PCed but I know I have more cards set aside for him in a pile somewhere on my desk.  Once I find them, my memory will have been jogged.

Thanks for the deal, Colin!

A Quick Trade With Blaine

Before I get into my Christmas gifts from friends, I wanted to knock out a couple more trades that have piled up to be blogged.  I got an assortment of Chris Davis cards in exchange for something that I have already forgotten to my friend, Blaine.  The main component of the deal was this Chris Davis 500 Futures coin card.  I needed it for the collection, and am glad to have it.

Blaine also tossed in these for the collection.  I hope to see Davis at Fan Fest, and will have a hard time picking out which cards to get signed.  I'll have to think really hard about what I have in my collection, and then I'll also have to get a voucher or two.

Thanks for the deal, Blaine!

Quick Trade With Carson

I made a quick and easy trade with my buddy, Carson recently, that landed me an auto that I can't show, because I gifted it to someone else.  I liked the above Nolan Reimold, which I had already, but I didn't mind adding another.

Carson also added this 2013 Bowman Chrome mini refractor of LJ Hoes.  It is a nice little card that I may be able to get signed if he ends up back in the O's system.

Thank you for the deal, Carson.  All I had to send him was a vintage card that I picked up at the Greenville card show.  I hope he enjoyed it!

Some Recent Autograph Pickups

I picked up a few nice cards lately that other folks have gotten signed, starting with two Gerald Lairds that my buddy, Dylan, was able to get for me while he was graphing the Connecticut Tigers.  This 2008 Heritage Chrome RC of Laird turned out really nice.

I had found four Laird cards, and I chose the Heritage Chrome and this 2005 Topps, while Dylan kept two other Topps cards.

My friend, Scott, from the Wood Ducks games hooked me up with this Richie Shaffer auto that he got IP for my help in getting him Triston McKenzie a while back.  I had this Schaffer already, but I was happy to take it, nonetheless.  Especially since the person who got me the previous one is now someone I won't be doing 50/50s with anymore.  I'd rather help Scott out.

Finally, I made a trade on Instagram using two of my extra Jamie Quirk IP autos for these two Orioles.  I definitely needed more 2009 Topps in my album, so I had to choose the 09 Jeremy Guthrie, and I didn't have McGregor yet, so I was happy with this 1986 Topps.

Another Graduation, The Mothman and Another Ballpark

Josh and Kaleb both were Summa Cum Laude, which was pretty impressive

It all started with a question.  About 3 years ago, I received a DM on Instagram with a rather innocuous question - "Hey, do you know who Jack Wilson is?"  Little did I know that my limited knowledge of the former Pirates player would lead me to forging a friendship with someone who could quite possibly be one of the most genuine people that I have ever met.

Ever since that day, way back in 2014, I have talked to my friend, Josh, daily.  We didn't really do trading; we just talked daily about baseball and life.  I did find the first deal I made with our mutual friend, Kaleb, and I believe it is the first mention of Josh on this blog.  That post can be found here.

I learned really fast that Josh is a super nice guy, and always willing to chat.  Since our initial conversation, I have actually befriended his dad, his brother Braden, and a few of his friends (including Kaleb).

Josh mentioned something earlier this year about the possibility of making my way to his graduation and sending me a graduation announcement.  I had a chat with a friend at work about it and she said "I don't think he means you're invited, an announcement isn't the same thing as an invitation..."  Which was the same thing I thought; I didn't honestly think that Josh was serious that he truly was inviting me up for his graduation.  I mean, I knew that Josh and I had grown close over the last three years.  I figured that out when he called me while I was at the Walker Stalker convention back in December.  I had been able to hit a grand slam with his Christmas present and realized just what I meant to him.

When I did get the invitation, there was also a full-page letter from Josh thanking me for always being there for him and being a good friend.  He had also given me an 8x10 of his senior picture, which he signed and inscribed "To Will, a great friend" well before the graduation invitations had been printed.  I oftentimes have problems realizing what folks think of me, but Josh clued into that early on and has made it very clear how he feels about our friendship.

I admit, I was skeptical about driving all that way to his graduation.  I have gotten flack from folks in the past about the "friends" I have made on Instagram, Facebook, etc.  However, I met his dad when I had Skyped Braden a while back and saw that their dad is just as nice as they are.  When I pulled into the driveway on Friday, I was greeted by their dad and also Braden.  The first thing Josh's dad did when he saw me was give me a huge hug.  I instantly felt like a member of the family.  I talked to Josh's dad for quite a while, then finally met his mom.  She was equally as nice, but I didn't get much of an opportunity to talk with her, since she had to work the rest of the time I was in town.

During my friendship with Josh, it has been apparent that he likes to spread the word about me, so several of his friends have followed me on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.  I was able to watch a bunch of them graduate as well.  After the graduation, a few of us met at Buffalo Wild Wings, where Josh treated me to dinner.  Even though the service was really slow, we had a great time, and were all able to chat quite a bit.

Since his graduation was on a Friday, I made a weekend of the trip.  We decided early Saturday morning to go to Cincinnati for a Reds game, since they were the only major or minor league team in the area that was home that day.  Also, the Reds are Kaleb's favorite team, so it worked out even better.

On the way to Cincy, we drove through Point Pleasant, West Virginia, home of the Mothman statue.  I'm not going to go into too much detail, since I haven't seen the movie in years, but the legend of the Mothman, and the bridge which collapsed all took place in that town.  I actually drove over the replacement bridge several times this weekend.  I'm no fan of Richard Gere at all, but that is one of the two movies (the Jackal being the other) of his that I enjoyed.  The Mothman is creepy as hell, I recommend you watch it.

We made it to Cincinnati without running into Richard Gere, to the fifth MLB ballpark that I have been able to visit, and second this year.  Great American Ballpark is a really nice place.  It was a bobblehead giveaway day, and a decent-sized crowd was on hand to watch the Reds and the Braves.

The Reds lost to the Braves in extras, but we did get to see a grand slam, and I got to see Nick Markakis play.

A great bunch of friends enjoying a ballgame.  From left: Kaleb, Josh, Me, Braden

We all had a great time at the game.  The 2.5 hour drive made for a nice road trip for the four of us.  Braden sat up front with me, since I did all of the driving.  The banter back and forth across the trip and at the game would have made for a great podcast, as everyone in the car had a great knowledge of baseball, music and sports in general.  The guys were even treated to a karaoke jam by me, since Braden put on some Guns N Roses, and I can never resist singing along.  I hope the guys' ears have stopped bleeding by now.

I've tried to temper my excitement on here when I meet new people and feel like I have made a new friend or two.  All too often, folks have come and gone for various reasons, and I end up feeling rather foolish for spending time writing posts about how 'so and so' is a 'good friend', only to have them stop talking to me after a while.  I do have some folks who have lasted, like Drew, Andrew, Max (in Chicago), and a few others.  I know when I post my entries on here, they become public, but this blog really is a diary of sorts for me.  I do have some really good friends that I have met through here, on Instagram, at shows, etc.  I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings because I don't mention their names on here, or they don't get a full post like this one.  I do, however, feel the need to shine a spotlight on Josh, Braden and Kaleb, because they truly have been amazing friends to me the last few years, and I am very humbled and grateful that they all were excited that I was able to come up this weekend.

I spent the majority of the time talking about Josh, but I was also there for Kaleb, who I talk to often, and is an amazing person in his own right.  I'm very proud of the job he did, as well.  I was happy to finally meet Jared (who I have the longest snapchat streak with out of the group, lol), Jimmy and Tanner, and see these guys graduate as well.  I was happy to finally meet Kaleb's mom, even though we didn't get to talk for more than a few minutes; and also Kaleb's older brother, who is just as nice as he is.

So, I wanted to take the time to thank Josh, his dad Eric, his mom Susan, Braden, Kaleb, Jimmy, Tanner, and Jared for being to hospitable to me this weekend, and for wanting me to be present at this huge moment in your lives.  I am glad that I could have a positive influence on you guys, and I hope we can maintain our friendships for a long time.  I'm proud of you guys!

Apparently, I am invited back two years from now for Braden's graduation, if I didn't wear out my welcome this weekend.  I hope I can get up that way (or get all of them down here) well before then.